It's been about a week since I started blogging, and it's really cool to see the reactions I've gotten offline from people. I'm a little surprised at how far and how fast a blog can spread. Just yesterday I had lunch with a buddy who I ski with (who I hadn't seen in too long) and it turns out he met someone else who told him I had a blog he was tracking. I've also had requests to lift some of the mystery around what really goes on behind the scenes in the big standards orgs which I'll do - but not just right now. I will post some facts of what it's been like to do standards at the UN. This  won't be a "Jerry Springer", but you probably wouldn't believe some of the things that happen there which seem to defy normal gravity and defy time. Hey AlbertE ... I've found a new exception to your Theory on Relativity .

My biggest rant with blogging (here) *so far* has to be with the blogging software. I'm on some new 'work in progress' software (meaning "you can directly send the author emails" - or in plain English "there's no friggin manual so you are on your own and oh yea not everything works yet"). Around here we call it "eating dogfood" but then you know up front you're not getting final product. Right now I've got problems posting pictures - problem is I can't friggin do it. I've got this shiny new digital camera I picked up at my favorite electronics shopping spot in the world (Tokyo) and there's a few interesting pictures from the Redmond campus I'd like to share. Like yesterday some guy brought out his model helicopter and took it for a few test flights inside the building lobby. 'Creative' bunch of folks here - better put all the sharp objects away. Reminds me of university and all the indoor snowmobile races I had.

But probably the biggest problem I've got right now with the dogfood is getting the 'abstract' part of the system working. Maybe its just me, but it seems all I can do right now is post full articles; naaah - it's the dogfood. Please bear with me, while I take a big monkey wrench to the system.

Well, I've got a pile of work to catch up for the weekend. I made myself a few promises - one was to go public with some the new 'stuff' I'm working on (has to do with some standards work I've been into but it uses SOA and web services) before I go skiing this year; and I WILL be skiing on the first day the ski hill opens. So if you've got any pull with the Big Guy upstairs and can get me the good snow early, then I'll have to show you this new cool stuff early :-)